The 'black eye on the arts' takes a blow: US cultural policy in the 1990s

Republican assaults against the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) led the US House to pass Jul 1997 legislation effectively abolishing the NEA. Despite President Clinton's veto threats and stronger support for the agency in the Senate, the NEA's fate is uncertain. Republicans oppose it because they oppose federal funding of alleged leftist activities, believe that the arts are elitist and undemocratic, object to financing controversial and offensive art, and want to lower the federal budget deficit. Abolishing the NEA would significantly impact the arts in the US.